Night of the Scorpion by Nissim Ezekiel
About the Author:
Nissim Ezekiel is an Indian poet. He was born on 16 December 1924 and died on 9 January 2004. He was the son to Moses Ezekiel, a professor of Botany at Wilson College and his mother was a principal of her own school. In this article you will find ‘Night of the Scorpion Poem Explanation’.
Nissim Ezekiel was an Indian poet, actor, playwright, editor and art critic. He was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 for his collection “Latter Day Psalms” in 1982 and Padam Shri in 1988. He belonged to Mumbai’s Marathi speaking Jewish Community known as the Bene Israel. His first “A Time to Change” published i 1952.
He was an Indo – Anglian poet. Who wrote about India in English languare.
Different Writers:
(i) Indo – Anglian (Indian wrote about India in English language)
(ii) Anglo – Indian (English wrote about India)
(iii) Indo English (Indian translations into English
He was an existentialist (One who believes in the philosophy of experience).
Major Works of Nissim Ezekiel:
- Enterprise
- Night of the Scorpion
- Philosophy
- Poet Lover and Bird Watcher
- Background Casuality
- Goodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T. S.
- A Time to Change
- Sixty Poems
- The Third
- The Unfinished Man
- The Exact Man
- Hymns in Darkness and Poster Prayers
- Three Plays
- The Sleep Walkers
Night of the Scorpion Poem line by line explanation
Lines (1 – 10)
I remember the night my mother
was stung by a scorpion. Ten hours
of steady rain had driven him
to crawl beneath a sack of rice.
Parting with his poison – flash
of diabolic tail in the dark room
he risked the rain again.
The peasants came like swarms of flies
and buzzed the name of God a hundred times
to paralyse the evil one.
Explanation: The speaker remembers the night when the scorpion stung his mother when had been raining steadily for ten hours.
The scorpion came into the house being forced by the rain. It stung his mother on the tow. After stinging his mother the scorpion went out into the rain again. Its diabolic (devilish and wicked) talin had not much poison. The poison it had parted into the toe of his mother, it went out of the dark room, it parted with his poison.
Hearing the news of bitten by a scorpion to his mother the peasants and neighbours gathered to their house. They came like swarms of flies. Some of them came to know what the matter was. They all buzzed the name of God a hundred times to paralyse the evil scorpion.
Lines (11 – 20)
With candles and with lanterns
throwing giant scorpion shadows
On the sun baked walls
they searched for him; he was not found;
They clicked their tongues.
With every movement that the scorpion made
his poison moved in mother’s blood, they said
May he sit still, they said
May the sins of your previous birth
be burned away tonight they said.
Explanation: All of them searched the scorpion in the light of candles and lanterns but all was in vain. The speaker imagined their shadows on the walls, which were made hard and dry by the heat of the sun, as giant scorpion. They searched for him but it could not be found.
The peasants and neighbours described every activity of the scorpion. They described the incident well. Some of them said that as the scorpion moves so the poison will move in the body of the speaker’s mother.
Some of them said that the scorpion might have sitting somewhere and some of them said that the previous sins of his mother burned away that night. All were expressing their ideas.
Lines (21 – 31)
May your suffering decrease
The misfortune of your next birth, they said,
May the sum of evil
balanced in his unreal world
against the sum of good
become diminish by your pain, they said.
May the poison purify your flesh
of desire, and your spirit of ambition
they said, and they sat around
on the floor with my mother in the centre,
the peace of understanding on each face.
Explanation: Some of the peasants and neighbours said that these sufferings will decrease the misfortune of his mother’s next birth. They wished that the sum of evil of his mother might balance against the sum of good. nd further they said that her pain will grow less.
They said that the poison in her body would get pure her desire and ambition. Saying so they sat around his mother on the floor. They all were in a situation as they had a peace of understanding on their faces.
Lines (32 – 44)
More candles, more lanterns, more neighbours
more insects, and the endless rain.
My mother twisted through and through
groaning on a mat.
My father sceptic, rationalist,
trying every curse and blessing,
powder, mixture, herb, and hybrid.
He even poured a little paraffin
upon the bitten toe and put a match to it.
I watched the flame feeding on my mother,
I watched the holy man perform his rites
to tame the poison with an incantation.
After twenty hours it lost its sting.
Explanation: The speaker describes the incident when the scorpion stung his mother. The neighbours and peasants came while it was raining. Some with candles some with lanterns came there and insects too came with them. His mother twisted and was groaning with pain on a mat.
The speaker’s father was skeptic and rationalist. He tried all cures to control the poison with power, mixture, herb and hybrid. The father poured a little paraffin on the toe of mother which was stung by the scorpion. He added match to it. It was flaming.
A holy man came and performed his rites to God to control the poison. It took twenty hours to lessen the pain. After twenty hours the pain removed.
Lines (45 – 47)
My mother only said.
Thank God the scorpion picked on me
and spared my children.
Explanation: These are the closing lines of the poem. In these lines selfless love of mother towards her son has been shown. The mother thanked God and said the scorpion picked on her and spared her children. She was afraid and thought if the scorpion had stung her children what pain she might tolerate. She would not tolerate that pain nor she could see the pain of her children.
Other important links: